Randy Weston and African Rhythms perform new and classic works of Weston's at Other Minds Music Festival 8 in 2002 at Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco California. The music, according to Robin D.G. Kelley, New York Times jazz critic and NYC African Studies Professor, "...pushes the African rhythms to the foreground and always tries to work within a framework true to the source, whether it's the West African dance music called highlife or sacred songs from Morocco. These forms fit seamlessly in a jazz context precisely because, in Mr. Weston's words, 'the music that is called jazz...for me is really an extension of African culture.'" Hearing African Rhythms is like "witnessing a joyous, sacred ceremony."

Among other selections, African Rhythms performs the world premiere of Randy Weston's "Blues for Langston Hughes," dedicated to the memory of the great American poet on the occasion of his centenary. The work was commissioned by Other Minds with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Randy Weston, piano; T.K. Blue, saxophone & flute; Benny Powell, trombone; Alex Blake, bass; Neil Clark, African percussion.

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